Global mobility is a race

Global mobility professionals should follow the same advice given to race car drivers:

• Look ahead. There are many potential obstacles to avoid. You should know the entire course of events — not just the next turn — in order to achieve the most optimal approach for the fastest and most efficient processing time.
• Identify your options and have a plan long before you meet obstacles. Government adjudicators, providers of key documents like diplomas, passports, and birth/marriage certificates, flight schedules, government holidays, corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, etc., are potential obstacles that can lead you to make choices that diverge from the original line of approach.
• Pay attention to what happens ahead of you and learn from it. There are frequent changes.
• Monitor proposed new laws and regulations. Keep informed of processing times and enforcement trends. Maintain expatriate employee policies and practices that adopt best practices from the experiences of your prior employee placements and the experience of the professionals advising you.
• Stay in control and do not let the process drive you. Business needs can change. Family needs of the employee can change. You may need to adapt to those changes, but should do so in a controlled fashion that keeps the process on course.
• Smoothness is king. Avoid radical shifts in practices. Adapt and make changes in a considerate fashion that does not derail other parts of the process.

Advance planning is key. The global mobility assignment process is complex and more often than not takes longer than expected. Plan — plan early — and keep the plan nimble.